UK patients are outraged over whether the government NHS (National Health Service) data base was used to find individual cancer patients and pressure them to vote for the Labour party. See article here.

Even if NHS data was not used, CLEARLY there is enough commercial data for sale in both Britain and the US for cancer victims’ addresses to be found and re-identified.

Allowing the secret US data mining industries that steal, collect, aggregate, and sell all Americans’ sensitive personal health information, health-related searches, health-related posts on social websites, email about health, and health-related purchases to continue doing business-as-usual is a prescription for disaster.

It’s a key reason we are seeking 500,000 people to sign the Do Not Disclose list. If Congress gets 500,000 signatures, they will pass a law to restore our control over our digital health records and set up the list.

Don Berwick MD, President Obama’s nominee to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, agrees that health information should belong to patients—and doctors should have to ask us to see it. See his article on patient empowerment: What ‘Patient-Centered’ Should Mean.

Yes, it’s illegal for employers and banks to use health information—but if they have it, they can use it—and there is no way to stop them.

We should be able to stop anyone from getting our health information. A national Do Not Disclose list would ensure we decide who sees our health information and who doesn’t.

It’s time to prevent corporations and government from being able to get our sensitive health information without consent. Sign the Do Not Disclose list!

Quotes:

“The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have attacked the Labour Party for sending “alarmist” literature to cancer patients, and called for an inquiry into whether NHS databases had been used to identify recipients. The row erupted after Labour sent cancer patients mailshots saying that their lives may be at risk under a Conservative government.”

“Experian, the data management company, confirmed that both Labour and the Conservatives use its Mosaic database, which divides voters into 67 groups. The databases can use anonymised hospital statistics, including postcodes and the diagnoses of patients, to identify the likely addresses of those with particular illnesses.”